Everything you wanted to know about makeup & more...

May 06, 2013

Makeup and Maturing

Makeup and the Mature

I wasn't sure how to name this particular entry - but I KNEW that "Makeup and Getting Older" didn't particularly thrill me!

Ah yes - the maturing process. Ain't it great? Looking in the mirror and suddenly, your mother's face is looking back at you. I'm not saying this is a BAD thing (mom)- but it sure as hell is a shocker, isn't it? Anyone over a "certain age" has felt that jolt to their system!

A very good friend of mine - actually a friend from our freshman year in high school - was out buying lipstick, something she rarely does. She picked up her good old reliable Revlon lipstick and when she put it on - it looked....different. The color was definitely not the same. She even checked the bottom of the lipstick a few times (with a magnifying glass...you know the drill) to make sure that she had picked out the right color.

Yes - it was definitely the right color. But it was different somehow. She called me and indignantly said that Revlon had changed the color of the lipstick that she had worn for years, and remembered so well. Because my curiosity was raised, I too went to the drugstore and purchased the lipstick. It looked the same to me.

Then it hit me. The lipstick hadn't changed, WE had changed. We committed age. And that particular shade no longer worked for my friend the way it had for the last 30 years or so. (Told you we were older...I mean, mature!)

Changing

It never occured to me and my other friends, that along with all the other "fun" changes like - perimenopause, gray hair, chin hair springing out of nowhere...but only when you are driving and checking the mirror and seeing the long gray hair that you never, ever saw and having to pluck it right then and there) that our makeup would turn against us. Makeup was always our friend and ally! Et tu, makeup?

Foundations that were once perfect - now make us look cakey and shows lines that we never knew we had. Colors that were so awesome in our "before time" are suddenly different - too dark, too light, just in general, WRONG.

Of course, first we must be in denial for bit, and definitely put the blame on the cosmetics companies - and then reality sets in. It isn't them - it's us.

It's time to change...yet again. (And of course, to express our wrath at men, who as they age - simply look distinguished. I call unfair!)

Don't despair. It happens to all of us. Some sooner - some later, but it'll happen.

This is when you go back to square one, and start trying on different makeup - different lines, different textures and different colors. It helps to go to a makeup artist (you know - kind of like me!) to have them help you along.

Try some different makeup lines - some are more mature friendly than others. Hey! Maybe those counters won't be playing that awful loud music! (Dern kids, git off my lawn!)

Playing with Color

Look at your colors - get a color makeover. Read some new beauty books on "mature beauty".

You have to change your makeup along with your clothing style - and essentially, kind of start from scratch.

If a new beginning of maturity means looking and trying new makeup, I am all for it.

If you want some help or ideas, give me a shout out. We can do this together. It'll be...fun? Yeah, that's the ticket! I love helping ladies start from scratch. A fresh new look from a fresh new person...okay, I'm not SO fresh, but fresher.

Comments

Makeup and Maturing

Makeup and the Mature

I wasn't sure how to name this particular entry - but I KNEW that "Makeup and Getting Older" didn't particularly thrill me!

Ah yes - the maturing process. Ain't it great? Looking in the mirror and suddenly, your mother's face is looking back at you. I'm not saying this is a BAD thing (mom)- but it sure as hell is a shocker, isn't it? Anyone over a "certain age" has felt that jolt to their system!

A very good friend of mine - actually a friend from our freshman year in high school - was out buying lipstick, something she rarely does. She picked up her good old reliable Revlon lipstick and when she put it on - it looked....different. The color was definitely not the same. She even checked the bottom of the lipstick a few times (with a magnifying glass...you know the drill) to make sure that she had picked out the right color.

Yes - it was definitely the right color. But it was different somehow. She called me and indignantly said that Revlon had changed the color of the lipstick that she had worn for years, and remembered so well. Because my curiosity was raised, I too went to the drugstore and purchased the lipstick. It looked the same to me.

Then it hit me. The lipstick hadn't changed, WE had changed. We committed age. And that particular shade no longer worked for my friend the way it had for the last 30 years or so. (Told you we were older...I mean, mature!)

Changing

It never occured to me and my other friends, that along with all the other "fun" changes like - perimenopause, gray hair, chin hair springing out of nowhere...but only when you are driving and checking the mirror and seeing the long gray hair that you never, ever saw and having to pluck it right then and there) that our makeup would turn against us. Makeup was always our friend and ally! Et tu, makeup?

Foundations that were once perfect - now make us look cakey and shows lines that we never knew we had. Colors that were so awesome in our "before time" are suddenly different - too dark, too light, just in general, WRONG.

Of course, first we must be in denial for bit, and definitely put the blame on the cosmetics companies - and then reality sets in. It isn't them - it's us.

It's time to change...yet again. (And of course, to express our wrath at men, who as they age - simply look distinguished. I call unfair!)

Don't despair. It happens to all of us. Some sooner - some later, but it'll happen.

This is when you go back to square one, and start trying on different makeup - different lines, different textures and different colors. It helps to go to a makeup artist (you know - kind of like me!) to have them help you along.

Try some different makeup lines - some are more mature friendly than others. Hey! Maybe those counters won't be playing that awful loud music! (Dern kids, git off my lawn!)

Playing with Color

Look at your colors - get a color makeover. Read some new beauty books on "mature beauty".

You have to change your makeup along with your clothing style - and essentially, kind of start from scratch.

If a new beginning of maturity means looking and trying new makeup, I am all for it.

If you want some help or ideas, give me a shout out. We can do this together. It'll be...fun? Yeah, that's the ticket! I love helping ladies start from scratch. A fresh new look from a fresh new person...okay, I'm not SO fresh, but fresher.